Reason
by foreversnow
Summary: ONESHOT. It took him less than ten words to have my heart in the palm of his hand. —SasuSaku


**Reason  
****by foreverhearts**

**00.  
**"_I always thought people were good,  
no matter how cruel they may seem, just like Daddy said.  
Then I opened my eyes and saw what he didn't want me to see."_

**01.**

They said they wanted to protect us. Save us from being in the war.

Nobody seemed to care. We were a small village; there were only four hundred, maybe five hundred people living here. Sure, we were in an easy-to-get-to area, but people barely passed by here. So why should we worry? We'd probably never even see what happened during the war.

At least, that's what we thought.

My mother didn't seem to think so. _"One day, they'll come marching down the streets," _she'd say, stroking my hair before bedtime, _"And when they do, you and I will be long gone, sweetie. We won't be part of this stupid war."_

Of course, I was only nine at the time; how was I supposed to know what she was talking about? She probably knew that as well.

And she was right; she never got to see the war.

The day before anything happened, she died.

The soldiers said she died peacefully; didn't suffer as she slowly died from losing all that blood; the blood she'd drawn from her own body.

I wish I could've believed that.

But I was already old enough to see things for what they were; old enough to know that the grown-ups were hiding their fear. Maybe that's why the soldiers came. Maybe they could feel their fear.

I didn't even have time to cry for my mother's death.

The alarm went off exactly at nine in the morning. I still remember the fear that ran through me; then I felt nothing at all. Why should I even care if we were finally under attack; if the very thing they said would never come true finally did? The only person I loved was gone. Did it really matter if I died?

I never got enough time to think about what to do next. Even now, I can't remember everything in detail. One minute, I'm thinking about my mother, and the next, I'm on the floor, my head throbbing and something dripping down my face; I couldn't even see from my left eye.

But really, I don't think I even noticed that I was bleeding. At least, not until I blacked out. They said I almost died from blood loss.

Just like Mom did.

**02.**

Our village isn't a village anymore. You wouldn't even be able to recognize it; it's a wasteland. I wish I could say the war ended quickly, that not many people died. I wish I could lie.

I never got to see exactly what happened that day. By the time I woke up afterwards, they'd moved on to destroy another village.

It's been five years since my life as a daughter ended; five years since Mom died.

It's been almost a year that I've found something to live for, something to do with my life.

Not too far from where my village used to be, the soldiers set up a camp for people with no homes. Mostly children ended up in this place.

I take care of them, because that seems to be one of the few things I can do. Sometimes we'll have someone who escaped, wounded, and my little knowledge of medicine has already come in handy countless times.

_There's an even more important reason why I don't want to die._

Today the children had gone out with a group of soldiers to see if they could find anything valuable in neighboring villages. I stayed behind; someone had gotten hurt when they accidentally fired off an explosive, and so I had to tend to him.

Sighing for what felt like the hundredth time that day, I started unwrapping the bandages around his left arm. "Seriously, Naruto, I still can't imagine how you could have set it off. Weren't you _trained _not do something like that?"

_Actually, the reason why I stayed here was because I want to protect someone._

Naruto laughed. Grinning widely down at me, he swung his legs on the table as he said, "It was an accident, Sakura-chan! Besides, Sasuke-teme didn't tell me it was still dangerous; I thought it was already used up!" He laughed again.

I shook my head. "You're lucky you didn't end up without an arm."

"Ehe, well, Sakura-chan, it's thanks to you that I even get to be here!" I was still concentrating on wrapping the new bandage around his arm, so when I looked up, it surprised me to see him staring down at me with a smile on his face. "Hey, Sakura-chan, why do you always wear your hair that way? It's always covering your face." Before I could say anything, he reached out and pushed the hair away, and the smile suddenly dropped from his face. He opened his mouth, then closed it. When he was finally able to speak again, he said, "O-Oh, Sakura-chan, I'm sorry. I didn't—I didn't know that was why you—"

Over the years, I'd grown used to hearing this from people; so it didn't take much effort to smile at Naruto and say that it was okay. It wasn't his fault; I just didn't like how people always felt sorry for me. It wasn't like I'd lost an arm or a leg, so why did they always apologize?

_That person was the only one to look at me without feeling sorry for me; instead, he told me he'd get revenge for me, and that no one would hurt me again. It only took him those words to keep me by his side._

Changing the subject, I turned my back to him, "Do you know where Sasuke-kun is? I haven't seen him since this morning…"

I could hear Naruto getting off the table and walking over to the flap of the tent we were in. Opening it, he said, "He went off somewhere right after the others left to search for stuff. You know, like he always does when he wants to be alone. If you see him tell him I'm looking for him, okay? Anyway, I'm gonna go now. Thanks, Sakura-chan."

After he left, I stood by myself, staring down at the bowl of water in my hands. There weren't any mirrors around, and honestly, I was glad for that, but the water seemed to always want to show my reflection. To remind me of the scar left by my past.

I can't see from my left eye. It's been completely useless since that day five years ago. The ugly scar running across my eye reminds me of the scars on Sasuke's chest. I still say it doesn't bother me to have that scar, but he knows me better than that. If I didn't care, then why did I hide it behind my hair?

After seeing it, he didn't look away; instead, he brought his hand up and ran his fingers over it. His fingers felt rough, and after a while he said my skin felt soft; he said that that was one thing he found strange about girls. His other hand had been resting on my other cheek, and he said that my scar only added to my personality. It was part of who I was. Was that what he told himself every time he got hurt?

He was cold when I first met him. The only reason he rescued me, he'd said, was because he was there when I was about to be killed. Just a coincidence. When I stayed by his side, he didn't tell me to go away; so I stayed. He acted cold because his life just 'didn't have a meaning anymore'. After his older brother was killed, he said he didn't have a reason to live.

_He gave __**me **__a reason to live. So I thought, Why can't I do the same?_

I didn't realize I'd been staring into the water until I heard someone behind me, "Sakura."

Turning around, I saw that it was darker inside the tent; was the day almost over already? I smiled at him. "Sasuke-kun! Naruto was looking for you…"

He nodded his head once. "I saw him just now." He looked around for a bit, before walking slowly towards the other side of the tent where I was. "You seem to have nothing important to do at the moment…" It only took him three long strides to reach me, and I felt the air being sucked out of me when he stopped. When I breathed in, my chest brushed against his, and I blushed.

"Ah, Sasuke-kun, I-I was just about to wash these bandages—"

It was always the same with Sasuke. Whenever nobody was around, he became a completely different person. So it didn't surprise me when he wrapped his arms around me and brought me against him. "Sasuke-kun…where were you? Naruto said you disappeared right after the children left." Feeling his muscles slowly relax, I laughed breathily. "Sasuke-kun, you were out practicing again, weren't you? You probably lost track of time out there." The strange thing was, he didn't smell like sweat. Or dirt. Or any other thing he would usually smell like if he'd been out training all day.

"…I wasn't training. I was…thinking." His hold on her loosened enough for him to take a step back to look down at me. "About you."

"About me?" My voice was a whisper. But really, it was strange to hear him saying this. "Why?"

He looked like he didn't know how to start with what he wanted to say. Sighing, he brought me against him again, this time placing his cheek against mine. His lips brushed against my ear, and I felt that same shiver go down my spine whenever he touched me like this. Slowly, his lips brushed down my jaw, across my lips, then up to my eye. Brushing my hair out of the way, his lips pressed against my left eye.

I didn't know what to do. He was being so un-Sasuke-like.

He brought his forehead against mine. When I opened my eyes, he was staring right at me. The blush on my cheeks only intensified. "S-Sasuke-kun…?"

His eyes closed. The pained look on his face confused me. Why was he acting so strange?

"I don't want you to die, Sakura. Being here is already dangerous enough, but if they were to attack us-" Opening his eyes, he said, "Run away with me."

He wasn't joking. Sasuke _never _joked around. But— "Run away? Where would we go?" My eyes widened. "Sasuke-kun, they'd classify you as a criminal! You'd be put up for death for committing such a crime; we can't run away!"

Sasuke shook his head. Placing his hands on my shoulders, he said, "It doesn't matter what they'll do. If we stay here any longer, you'll be in danger. I already said I wasn't going to let them hurt you again, and I'm keeping that promise." His grip tightened when he said, "I'm not going to let them take you away from me, Sakura."

"But— You'll be—"

"Even if it means betraying the very country I swore to serve."

Even as I shook my head frantically, even as I repeated over and over that they would kill him if they found out, I knew he'd made up his mind already. I wasn't going to be able to change what he already thought was the only possible solution.

Even as I said this, I knew I'd do exactly what he wanted me to do.

**03.**

I'd be lying if I said this life I had wasn't what I had wanted. I'd dreamed about finding the perfect guy, the one who would tell me he loved me every day and bring me gifts just because he felt like it.

Instead, I was labeled as a runaway. The man I love betrayed his own men to keep me out of danger. He doesn't tell me he loves me every day, and he doesn't bring me gifts just because he feels like it.

Still, I don't think I'd ever give this life for anything. Why would I?

I have Sasuke-kun with me. I don't need anything else.

He's the reason I'm alive.

And if I'm not around, then what about _him_?

I'm the reason _he's _alive.

And really, I wouldn't have it any other way.


End file.
